Please Don't Go (I Love You So)
by QuietLittleVoices
Summary: Dean is a king and Castiel is his knight and childhood best friend. One night, invaders come and try to take the castle. Feelings are revealed and lives are risked.


Castiel woke him up in the middle of the night. The first thing Dean noticed as he tried to brush off the fog of sleep was that their noses were almost pressed together, and for a moment he wondered if he was still dreaming. Cas never got this close when he was awake, after all. He quickly dispelled this idea, however, when he saw that Cas looked _afraid._

"Dean, you _need_ to get up," the knight was saying, and if Dean didn't know him any better, he'd say that his long-time friend was _begging._

Dean also knew that Cas was very rarely afraid, and in fact had only seen real fear on the other man's face on one occasion. It was when there was a fever sweeping through the kingdom, and Dean had caught it; he'd very nearly died in the throes of sickness. Castiel had been afraid.

"What's wrong?" Dean asked, forcing himself to wake up all the way and stay alert. If Castiel was afraid, then something was most definitely _wrong_. There was danger somewhere nearby.

Castiel grabbed his king's shoulders and gently started to pull him out of bed. "Invaders. We have to get you to the safe house."

Dean nodded and stumbled down the corridor behind Cas.

They'd grown up together in those halls, played games and chased each other. Cas had always been a servant, and then a knight in training, and Dean a prince and then a king, but they'd always been the closest of friends. Until Dean started wanting something more, something that he knew he couldn't have because there was absolutely no way that his knight would want that from him, too. That would be too much to ask for.

They wound around the twisting halls until they reached the safe house, which was through a musty, underground tunnel, and out the back. It was somewhere that invaders would never find; would never think to look for a _king_ in such a place. Dean could hear the distant sounds of fighting, swords clashing against swords and voices shouting wordlessly. His skin itched to join the battle but he knew that Castiel wouldn't hear it; wouldn't want to risk Dean or the kingdom by letting him fight in anything other than a controlled practise session.

As soon as Dean was in the room, Cas turned to go.

"No!" Dean called, reaching out and grabbing his friend's sleeve. "No, don't leave. Stay."

Castiel looked confused. "I have to fight, Dean. I have to protect you."

Dean shook his head. "Not if it means dying. I wouldn't be fit to rule if you died." The king laughed humourlessly. "Remember my father? This kingdom wouldn't survive having two of him in a row."

The knight narrowed his eyes further, regarding Dean curiously. "What are you saying, Dean?"

"That you can't go out there and fight, because if you die, then I'll die, too. Only I'll have to go on ruling and I can't do that without you by my side." Dean looked away, not wanting to meet Cas' blue eyes, but he didn't let go of his sleeve.

"Why not? I'm not special, Dean; I'm just a knight."

Dean was shaking his head before the other man had even finished speaking. "No, no, no; can't you see? You're so much more than that to me. I – I planned to keep this to myself, take it to the grave, but you're just being so..." He let out a frustrated sigh. He'd always been a man of actions, not one of words, so he pulled on the sleeve that he was still clinging on to until they were chest to chest. "You can't die, Cas; I need you," he murmured in the shared space between their lips before closing the gap. If this was the only kiss he'd ever get, he was going to remember it. Commit the feel of Cas against him and the taste of his lips to memory and never let go of it. _This_ was something he'd take the grave if he had to.

After a moment of surprise, Cas moaned and collapsed against Dean, giving back all that he was getting. The initially chaste kiss quickly turned passionate, years of pent up emotions coming up and pushing for themselves to be known.

"That's why you have to stay," Dean breathed as they pulled apart, resting their foreheads together.

Cas was pulling away, slipping out of Dean's grasp. "That's why I have to go."

He shut the door behind him and Dean listened as the lock clicked. He felt more empty now than he ever had before.

Dean had to wait for what felt like days, though was probably only an hour or two, before someone came to get him from the safe house. And it wasn't Castiel like he'd been expecting. His heart fell – had he not come because he thought what had happened before was a mistake? But Dean knew that Cas wasn't like that, so it must be bad. He looked at the knight before him with fear in his eyes. "Take me to him," Dean demanded, using his 'King Voice' as Sam called it. The voice he used to indicate that there was no question about what he was saying; he was to be obeyed to the letter.

The knight – Dean tried to remember his name – nodded, and Dean follow him through the musty hallway and into the great hall. He knew immediately that this was not where the battle had taken place, but this was where they brought the wounded… and the dead. He tried to tell himself that Cas was obviously the former; if he was dead, then Dean would know. Somehow. He'd know, because there was no way that the world could be the same if he was dead. Things just wouldn't keep spinning; the sun would fall out of the sky; winter would fall and never turn back into spring. And Dean would be empty.

But the knight was still walking, moving around the corpses covered in sheets. Weaving around them, careful not to step on them even though they couldn't feel it now. Dean spared only a moment's thought to who they'd been and he tried not to feel bad about it. He'd learn later, he'd mourn later. But now he was focused on only one person, who he spotted lying down on a cot. There was a nurse hovering over the knight, fussing, and Castiel was just trying to get rid of her.

Dean had to stop himself from breaking into a run when he saw those blue eyes alive. As it was, the world fell away around him and he quickly got to the knight's side and dropped down to his knees at his bedside.

"You're hurt," Dean said dumbly.

Cas reached out and touched Dean's hair. "I'll live."

"You could have died."

He shook his head. "No. Not when I had you to get back to. Not know that I know…" Cas searched Dean's eyes, looking for an answer to a question he hadn't yet asked. "That you reciprocate my feelings?" It's meant to be a statement but it comes out a question.

Dean nodded and leaned forwards. "Yes. Of course. I love you, Castiel; I've loved you since we were children."

Cas smiled. "So have I, my king."

With a matching grin, Dean leaned forwards and kissed Cas, not caring who saw. The news of the king pairing up with his knight might shock some of the rulers he dealt with in politics, but it didn't matter to him. As long as he had Castiel, he could face anything.


End file.
